Alice Ojwang was brought up around health workers. On days when her relatives gathered in her parents’ home in Nairobi, conversations revolved around health matters. Alice would listen in on these discussions with the interest of an inquisitive child. When she joined Lwak Girls’ Primary Boarding School in lower primary, she cheered herself up by thinking of these times on days when the homesickness was too much to bear. But with not much choice, she opted to persevere. Soon enough, she adjusted to life in Siaya County and proceeded on to the school’s high school. As KCSE neared and with it information on tertiary studies and the careers possible, she had come to the decision that she would follow in her family’s footsteps and work towards becoming a health worker.

Exam results were scheduled to come out in 1993 and as expected they did. Alice sat hopeful, waiting for the ticket to med school. She was shattered when she found out her were below the cut off mark to study medicine. She turned to her family and they urged her toward nutrition. She joined Kenyatta University the next year to study Home Economics. The course was unlike what she imagined, but she was exposed to the curative aspects of nutrition, and even did her industrial attachment at Kenyatta National Hospital. She enjoyed working with patients and the results from those she worked with made her work all the more satisfying.

In 1998, Alice graduated and began the job search. Unfortunately, there were no vacancies for nutritionists at any facility she walked into. When the job hunt wore her out, she considered volunteering; after all, what was important was building her work experience. She started out at Childlife Trust. Meanwhile, her proactive spirit never dimmed. She particularly sought a job at Kenyatta Hospital, and after twelve months of rejection, she was finally employed as a nutrition officer.

Some of Alice’s most frequent patients were malnourished. She was required to prescribe diets that would improve their health – and the results could only be measured as weeks progressed. When eventually they did, she was ecstatic and motivated to do more for their well-being. After working at KNH for two years, she was ready to help patients on the other end of the spectrum, and so she joined Roche Pharmaceuticals as an obesity trainer. The company had just launched a new drug that helped those struggling with obesity to curb their unhealthy cravings and promote weight loss. But the medication would not be effective on its own. They required a specialist who could design health programs for people suffering from obesity. In addition to employing Alice as an obesity trainer, Roche Pharm set her up with a private practice which she could use to see and educate patients. The practice was called Xenihealth Nutrition and Weight Loss Management Clinic, and operations began in 2001.

The following year, Alice strengthened her skill by going back to school. She joined Stellenbosch University in South Africa for a Master’s degree in Nutrition. Her clinic was still under the Roche Pharmaceuticals’ umbrella and she was confident that despite her absence, the work would continue as usual. She returned home in 2005 and was back to work but with an added hobby. Her time in SA allowed her to travel and this was what she wanted to do. Over the ten years that followed, Alice travelled to different parts of the world where she learnt more about nutrition and dietetics. She would bring the wisdom back with her, teaching her fellow nutritionists everything she’d absorbed. She found that she enjoyed teaching people and helping others sharpen their skills with all the knowledge she had acquired. Alice, therefore, decided to become a part-time lecturer at the Technical University of Kenya in 2013.

By 2015, teaching had become such an integral part of Alice’s life that she decided to make it her full-time job. But first, she needed to tie up the loose ends in her existing career. She shut down Xenihealth and joined North West University in South Africa to earn her doctorate in dietetics. After graduating in 2019, she returned to the Technical University of Kenya, where she currently teaches students enrolled in the Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. Her goal is to prepare the next crop of dieticians to take the mantle.

Asante sana Alice for your efforts to improve health from the inside out. We commend your Paukwa spirit!